1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a behavior determining apparatus for determining whether or not a pattern regarding behaviors of a given subject person and an actual behavior of that person are substantially identical; a behavior determining apparatus for determining whether or not the pattern of actions of a given device and an actual action of that device are substantially identical; a care system for accurately specifying the behavior of a subject person and taking care of that person; a care residence equipped with that care system; a measuring method, pertaining to the measurement of actions and behaviors in varying states of humans, animals, machines or the like, for measuring those actions and behaviors; an apparatus using that method; and a system including that apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Behavior determining apparatuses according to the prior art include, for instance, an apparatus for determining the behaviors of senior citizens living alone. To cite a specific example, there is an apparatus that keeps on recording for a month or any other prescribed period how many times, both cumulatively and per unit length of time, the xe2x80x9cpourxe2x80x9d button of an automatic thermos used in the residence of a senior citizen living alone is pressed; records the average daily frequency of button pressing as the pattern of the resident""s use of the thermos; and, after these preliminary steps, detects his or her actions to pour hot water from the thermos; compares the frequency of the actions with the recorded pattern to determine whether or not the actual frequency is substantially identical with the pattern observed in advance. The apparatus determines the senior citizen""s behaviors and, if for instance he or she does not use the thermos when its use is expected according to the pattern observed in advance, issues to a management center, which is connected to the behavior determining apparatus, an alarm that he or she may be ill. Another behavior determining apparatus according to the prior art, as the foregoing apparatus compares the actual use of the thermos with the pattern observed in advance, detects the use of city water with a sensor fitted to the water discharge meter and determines the behaviors of the senior citizen living alone by comparing the detected act of actual water consumption and a pattern observed in advance and determining whether or not the detected act and the pre-observed pattern are substantially identical.
Furthermore, based on a similar principle to the idea underlying the apparatuses which compare and determine the presence or absence of substantial identity between the actions of a device, such as an automatic thermos, and the pre-observed pattern of its use, another behavior determining apparatus directly detects human behaviors, instead of the actions of a device, and determines whether or not the subject person""s behaviors are substantially identical with a pre-recorded pattern of his or her behaviors. The means of directly detecting the person""s behavior may be, for instance, a pyro-electric type infrared ray sensor installed on the ceiling of a room or a passage the person frequently passes. If the sensor detects his or her passage frequently enough, the person can be assumed to be living without trouble.
In recent years, with the aging of the national population, care of senior citizens has become a matter of grave social concern, with particular emphasis on those suffering from senile dementia or manifesting wandering symptoms, and the above-described and various other techniques have been proposed to address this issue. It is considered very useful in taking care of these senior citizens to have some means for keeping track of the behaviors of each and, if anything wrong is found, notifying the person concerned and someone else responsible for his or her care. Apart from senior citizens, if, for instance, behavioral patterns are specified by measuring and analyzing human behaviors, it will become possible to control illumination, air conditioning and so forth and thereby to make their operation more pleasant and safer for residents.
Furthermore, the effectiveness of measurement is not limited to human behaviors, but the behaviors of animals or machines can also be measured usefully. It could help reveal some unknown ecological aspects of animals, or measurement of states and actions of machines could contribute to their more efficient and safer operation and accordingly to greater efficiency of productive activities as a whole.
In understanding the behaviors of a human body or a inanimate object, it is essential to determine xe2x80x9cwho (or what)xe2x80x9d does xe2x80x9cwhatxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cwhere,xe2x80x9d because the individual or the object should be specified, its position in the room pinpointed, and its action and attitude detected.
An individual or a specific object may be specified by RF-ID or visual perception of CCD images. The RF-ID is a system whereby specifying information from a tag (also called a transponder; hereinafter to be referred to as a tag throughout) fitted to a moving body such as a human body or an inanimate one is received by an antenna (also called a reader; hereinafter to be referred to as an antenna throughout) as an electric wave of a specific frequency, and the object is thereby specified automatically.
This system can be broadly classified into two types by the reach of tag reading. One is a short-range type using a low frequency, for which the distance between the tag and the antenna is around 50 cm or less. The usual way of using this type is to hold the tag closely over the antenna or to sew the tag into a cuff of the slacks so that information from the tag can be read by an antenna installed on the floor. The other is a long-range type using a microwave, for which the distance between the tag and the antenna is more than 1 m. In this arrangement, the tag is mounted on a part of the human body or the object, and when the bearer of the tag passes near the antenna, information from the tag can be read by the antenna without being noticed by the bearer of the tag.
On the other hand, by the method of visual perception of CCD images, a CCD camera shoots a human or an inanimate body passing an entrance/exit, extracts characteristic quantities such as the personal face or the shape of or any mark on the object by visual perception and, by comparing them with inherent characteristic quantities registered in advance, the person or the specific object is specified.
Methods for specifying the position of a human or an inanimate body indoors include extraction from CCD images and extracting from temperature distribution information obtained with a two-dimensional infrared sensor. A method proposed for use in a very large building is to determine an approximate position from the intensities of electric waves from a plurality of base stations, using the personal handyphone system (PHS).
Older methods proposed for detecting actions and/or attitudes include ones by which a static condition and a dynamic condition are distinguished from each other by using a passometer, a mercury switch or the like. Recently proposed methods include, as various acceleration sensors and gyro sensors (angular acceleration sensors) have been improved in performance, ones based on the detection of the walking condition, the inclination of the body, the walking direction and/or other factors using these improved sensors.
However, since conventional behavior determining apparatuses relying on the actions of an automatic thermos or a water discharge meter can hardly keep track of everyday life activities of the subject person on a real time basis. Therefore, even if something wrong occurs with the subject person, it will take some time, a full day for instance, until that unusual state is specified as such.
Furthermore, because a pyro-electric infrared ray sensor would react to, for instance, the fluttering of a curtain when the window is opened or the movement of a small pet animal, such as a dog or a cat, a conventional behavior determining apparatus using this kind of sensor cannot accurately detect human behaviors either.
Furthermore, there is another means for directly detecting human behaviors than the pyro-electric infrared ray sensor, known as an in-bed state sensor, which detects whether or not the subject person is in bed. For instance, if the subject person gets up in the middle of night, goes to the kitchen and toilet and returns to the bed, a pyro-electric infrared ray sensor and/or an in-bed state sensor can detect that he or she once left the bed late at night, went to the kitchen and toilet and returned to the bed. However, the conventional behavior determining apparatus cannot tell whether the person felt thirsty, went to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator door, drank something and then went to the toilet or left the bed and went to the kitchen and the toilet all with no conscious purpose. If, for instance, a senior person behaves meaninglessly, he or she may be suffering from senile dementia, but the conventional behavior determining apparatus cannot be used for detecting a symptom of senile dementia.
The present invention, in view of the above-noted problems, is intended to provide a behavior determining apparatus for detecting the behaviors of the subject person more accurately.
Also, the invention is also intended to accurately specify the behaviors of the subject person and provide a care system for taking care of the subject person on that basis. The invention is further intended to provide a care residence equipped with that care system.
Also, the above-described behavior determining apparatus according to the prior art issues an alarm when any actual action of the subject device and a pre-recorded pattern are not identical with each other within a prescribed period of time or within a prescribed range of action variations, or when any actual behavior of the subject person and a pre-recorded pattern are not identical with each other within a prescribed period of time or within a prescribed range of behavior variations. Therefore if, for instance, the customary hours of the subject person""s visit to a hospital have changed and, when he or she is supposed to be in bed according to the pre-recorded pattern, the subject person is cooking in the kitchen, the differences from the person""s behaviors and the device""s recorded pattern will actuate an alarm to the subject person.
The subject person can stop the alarm issued to him but cannot respond to it in any other way. More specifically, after the alarm, the person cannot add to the records in the behavior determining apparatus the behavior or action regarding which the alarm was issued as a new element of pattern, or replace the existing pertinent pattern with the new one.
The present invention, with these problems taken into account, is intended to provide a behavior determining apparatus for notifying, if any behavior of the subject person or any action of the subject device is not substantially identical with a pre-recorded pattern, that non-identity and permitting the inputting of a response to that notification.
The invention is further intended to provide a behavior determining apparatus for adding, on the basis of the response from the notification, the behavior of the subject person or the action of the subject device not substantially identical with the pre-recorded pattern to the records as a new element of pattern, or replacing all or part of the recorded pattern with a new pattern or a new element of pattern.
In addition, the invention is intended to provide a care system for accurately specifying any behavior of the subject person, accurately notifying the behavior, permitting the inputting of the person""s response to the notification, and providing care to the person on the basis of that response. The invention is further intended to provide a care residence equipped with the care system.
Although many methods have been proposed for the purpose of detecting xe2x80x9cwho (or what)xe2x80x9d does xe2x80x9cwhatxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cwherexe2x80x9d as described above, none of them can perform anymore than a single function. In other words, none of them can determine in an integrated way xe2x80x9cwho (or what)xe2x80x9d does xe2x80x9cwhatxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cwhere.xe2x80x9d Although RF-ID can specify a specific person or an inanimate object entering a room, if a plurality of persons enter a room, it will be impossible to determine xe2x80x9cwho (or what)xe2x80x9d is xe2x80x9cwherexe2x80x9d by a method for locating the position of a person or an inanimate object. An acceleration sensor may be able to detect, for instance, the attitude of the subject, but not the position in which the attitude is taken.
The above-described methods involve a number of additional problems. Regarding RF-ID cited as a method for specifying an individual person or a specific inanimate object, the short-range type requires, because of the short distance of communication between the tag and the antenna, the tag to be consciously held closely over the antenna. The long-range type, on the other hand, because of its long distance of communication between the tag and the antenna, may sense not only passage through the entrance/exit but also passage beside the antenna by the person who does not actually enter the room. Specification of an individual person or a specific inanimate object from a CCD image, because of the need to extract characteristic quantities from the image, involves the problem of impossibility to specify the person if his or her face is made invisible by an obstacle in-between or by the darkness of night.
The present invention, with these problems taken into account, is intended to provide a behavior measuring method, apparatus and system capable of acquiring in a composite way the aforementioned behavioral information on xe2x80x9cwhoxe2x80x9d does xe2x80x9cwhatxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cwherexe2x80x9d and acquiring readily and accurately behavioral information adaptable to many different applications by accurately keeping track of the entrance into or the exit from a room by a human body or an inanimate body, specifying the person or the object at that point of time, and detecting the position and attitude of that human body ortho inanimate object on that basis.
The 1st invention of the present invention is (corresponding to claim 1) a behavior determining apparatus, comprising:
first detective means for detecting the behavior of a given subject person;
second detective means for detecting the operation of a given appliance;
recording means for recording one or more combined patterns of behavior of said subject person and operation of said appliance;
determining means for comparing the behavior of said subject person detected by said first detective means and the operation of said appliance detected by said second detective means with patterns recorded in said recording means to determine whether or not a combination of behavior of said subject person and operation of said appliance substantially accords with any of said patterns; and
output means for outputting the determined result of the said determining means.
The 2nd invention of the present invention is (corresponding to claim 12) a care system, comprising:
first detective means for detecting the behavior of a given subject person;
second detective means for detecting the operation of a given appliance;
specifying means for accurately specifying the behavior of said subject person on the basis of the behavior of said subject person detected by said first detective means and the operation of said appliance detected by said second detective means; and
information providing means with an information item established about care of said subject person for selecting said established information items on the basis of the behavior of said subject person specified by said specifying means to provide the selected information item.
The 3rd invention of the present invention is (corresponding to claim 13) a care system comprising:
first detective means for detecting the behavior of a given subject person;
second detective means for detecting the operation of a given appliance;
specifying means for accurately specifying the behavior of said subject person on the basis of the behavior of said subject person detected by said first detective means and the operation of said appliance detected by said second detective means; and
control means for controlling the operation of said appliance on the basis of the behavior of said subject person specified by said specifying means.
The 4th invention of the present invention is (corresponding to claim 14) a care system comprising:
first detective means for detecting the behavior of a given subject person;
second detective means for detecting the operation of a given appliance;
specifying means for accurately specifying the behavior of said subject person on the basis of the behavior of said subject person detected by said first detective means and the operation of said appliance detected by said second detective means; and
notifying means for notifying the behavior of said subject person specified by said specifying means.
The 5th invention of the present invention is (corresponding to claim 21) a behavior determining apparatus comprising:
detective means for detecting the behavior of a given subject person;
recording means for recording one or more patterns regarding to behavior of said subject person;
determining means for comparing the behavior of said subject person detected by said detective means with patterns recorded in said recording means to determine whether the behavior of said subject person substantially accords with any of said patterns or not;
notifying means for notifying the information about the result if NO is the result determined by said determining means; and
input means for inputting the response of said subject person to the information notified by said notifying means.
The 6th invention of the present invention is (corresponding to claim 22) a behavior determining apparatus comprising:
detective means for detecting the operation of a given appliance;
recording means for recording one or more patterns regarding to operation of said appliance;
determining means for comparing the operation of said appliance detected by said detective means with patterns recorded in said recording means to determine whether or not the operation of said appliance substantially accords with any of said patterns;
notifying means for notifying the information about the result if NO is the result determined by said determining means; and
input means for inputting the response of said subject person to the information notified by said notifying means.
The 7th invention of the present invention is (corresponding to claim 26) a behavior determining apparatus comprising:
first detective means for detecting the behavior of a given subject person;
second detective means for detecting the operation of a given appliance;
specifying means for accurately specifying the behavior of said subject person on the basis of the behavior of said subject person detected by said first detective means and the operation of said appliance detected by said second detective means;
recording means for recording one or more accurate patterns regarding behavior of said subject person, based at least on the behavior of said subject person and the operation of said appliance;
determining means for comparing the accurate behavior of said subject person specified by said specifying means with patterns recorded in said recording means to determine whether the accurate behavior of said subject person substantially accords with any of said patterns or not;
notifying means for notifying the information about the result if NO is the result determined by said determining means; and
input means for inputting the response of said subject person to the information notified by said notifying means.
The 8th invention of the present invention is (corresponding to claim 35) a care system, comprising:
first detective means for detecting the behavior of a given subject person;
second detective means for detecting the operation of a given appliance;
specifying means for accurately specifying the behavior of said subject person on the basis of the behavior of said subject person detected by said first detective means and the operation of said appliance detected by said second detective means;
notifying means for notifying the accurate behavior of said subject person specified by said specifying means;
input means for inputting the response of said subject person to the information item notified by said notifying means; and
information providing means with an information item established about care of said subject person for selecting said established information items on the basis of the behavior of said subject person input by said inputting means to provide the selected information item.
The 9th invention of the present invention is (corresponding to claim 36) a care system comprising:
first detective means for detecting the behavior of a given subject person;
second detective means for detecting the operation of a given appliance;
specifying means for accurately specifying the behavior of said subject person on the basis of the behavior of said subject person detected by said first detective means and the operation of said appliance detected by said second detective means;
notifying means for notifying the accurate behavior of said subject person specified by said specifying means;
input means for inputting the response of said subject person to the information item notified by said notifying means; and
control means for controlling the operation of the given appliance on the basis of the response of said subject person inputted by said input means.
To solve the above problems, the entrance/exit of a human body or a lifeless body into/out of the room is accurately grasped by means for detecting the moving direction and at this point, each individual person or thing is specified by using the RF-ID. By accurately measuring the timing of room entrance/exit, the trouble of holding a tag over the antenna is solved which has so far been a problem in a short-range type RF-ID and an erroneous judgement made in case of a human body or a lifeless body passing by the antenna without entering the room can be also solved which has been a problem in a long-range type RF-ID.
Besides, since a specific human body or lifeless body entering the room once can be grasped as mentioned above, the position, the posture or the like of the specific human body or lifeless body can be detected/grasped. By means of a sensor fitted to part of a human body or lifeless body, for example, his or her posture is detected and the information about a human body or a lifeless body present in the adjacent room is also received by the base station in the exchange of the posture information with the base station. Since the human body or lifeless body present in this room is specified beforehand, however, the information about the human body or lifeless body present in this room can be clearly distinguished from the information about the human body or lifeless body present in the adjacent room.
A behavioral information specifying apparatus according to the present invention, comprising an RF-ID and means provided at the doorway of a room for detecting the moving direction, one or more position detective means, the above RF-ID, means for detecting the moving direction and sensor signal processing means for evaluating the behavioral information from the position detective means provided in the room, is featured by allowing a human or lifeless body to bear means for determining the status of the human or lifeless body.
The above configuration makes it possible, according to the present invention, to specify a human or lifeless body entering the room and to accurately measure individual behavioral information items such as position in the room, posture and physiological state by means of a behavioral information specifying apparatus.
Besides, by communicating with the base station wirelessly and further connecting the base station to network stations, status determining means fitted to a human or lifeless body can manage the behavioral information of human or lifeless bodies in rooms and in a specific space altogether and can grasp the behavior of human or lifeless bodies in the whole building at the real time, while innumerable applications such as detection of abnormalities, control of air conditioning/illumination and security are thinkable.